This course combines an
abbreviated Bible as Literature course with an even more abbreviated introduction
to some of the issues of Christian doctrine that have been especially
influential in world literature. We will study and discuss selections from the
Bible and selected issues of Christian thought. I must stress the word selections--I
have had to be very selective in both the scriptural and the doctrinal portions
of our syllabus, omitting much important and interesting material because of
time limits. In particular, I have had to be distressingly selective in the
doctrinal component of the course: our studies must necessarily focus on the
confessional or denominational traditions that have had the widest influence on
literature. I give the most attention to Roman Catholic (especially
pre-Tridentine Roman Catholic) thought, Lutheran and Anglican thought, and the
thought of Protestant denominations in the Reformed tradition (especially the
Calvinist tradition). I have been able to include little of what is unique to
the Eastern Orthodox traditions, to Dissenting or Pentecostal Protestantism
outside of the established Reformed Churches, to Unitarianism, Anabaptism
(apart from the general Mennonite influence on the political theology of John
Howard Yoder), or to Quaker tradition, let alone to the Eastern Nestorians, the
Old Catholics, the Uniates, Waldensians, or many other groups that have been
defined, at one time or another, as heretical by religious establishments that
made their judgments "stick" historically. Much that we do study is,
of course, common to all or to most of what has been accepted historically as
Christianity in one form or another. I stress that my selections reflect my
judgment of the relative degree of influence that ideas characteristic of
various traditions have had on literature. My selections do not reflect a
considered judgment of the truth or validity of what is included or what is
omitted, and if they did, we would have a considerably different syllabus
indeed. Throughout the syllabus, I have scattered various works of literature
to be read in conjunction with our scriptural readings or doctrinal materials.
These literary works bear a variety of different relationships to the
scriptural and doctrinal matters: some of this literature clearly locates
itself within a particular creed; some clearly contests or reacts against a particular
creed; some uses scriptural or doctrinal elements as points of departure or as
metaphorical idiom for an original exploration of some aspect of life or
thought, an aspect which may or may not be specifically "religious"
as "religious" is understood by most people in our culture today;
some seems to speak out of the same kinds of human experiences and concerns
that the biblical or doctrinal materials address but makes little explicit
reference to those materials; and some bears a most problematic relationship to
scripture and doctrine. My object is to introduce students to some of the many
ways that a knowledge of scripture and doctrine can help them read, appreciate,
and interpret literature.

In conjunction with our study of
literature, scripture, and doctrine, I will often bring to class reproductions
of works of visual art or recordings of pieces of music for discussion.
Unfortunately, space in the syllabus is so limited that we can do little more
with visual art and music than suggest how a familiarity with scripture and
doctrine can increase our understanding and appreciation. I encourage students
to explore this issue independently in one of their three papers, however.

As the remarks above imply,
this course is in no sense an equivalent or substitute for a course in Hebrew
Scripture and New Testament studies such as might be offered in the Department
of Religion. We will give only the most limited attention to the kinds of
historical, archaeological, and linguistic contexts that are central to the
academic study of scripture within the discipline of religious studies. Nor
will we attempt to distinguish between true and false Christianity as one might
do in the context of studies for the ministry or in a forthrightly confessional
approach to religion. These kinds of study are important, but they are not
within the purview of this course. I am insisting that students read the Bible
in the King James version because among all the English translations it is the
one that has had by far the most influence on literature, music, and art.
Critical Biblical scholarship today does not accept the King James version as a
particularly accurate rendering of the original texts insofar as it is possible
to reconstruct the original texts. From time-to-time, I will assign parallel
readings in a modern translation, and I encourage students to make a regular
habit of reading assignments in both the King James version and a modern
version.

Students who possess religious
commitments of their own may find themselves challenged by some of the ideas or
approaches that they encounter in this course. But they will also have the
particular kind of insight into how religious ideas can help to illuminate
personal experience, and that insight is most useful in developing critical
understanding of unfamiliar notions and perspectives. Students who have
developed their own hostilities, or problems, or "allergies" to
religion (or to a particular religion) will likewise be challenged by some of
the ideas or approaches that they encounter in this course. But they will also
have the particular kind of insight into how religious ideas can interfere with
and confuse one's understanding of personal experience, and that insight is
also most useful in developing critical understanding of unfamiliar notions and
perspectives. In short, one need not have a particular religious commitment or
any religious commitment at all to learn well and to do well in this course.
One does need, however, to be curious about how human beings have thought about
human life and represented and developed their thought in the complex symbolic
systems that we call religions--in the case of this course, religions broadly
within Judaism or Christianity. The only attitude likely to be completely a
hindrance in the course is the indifference that deals with such matters
dismissively. We are dealing with scripture and doctrine as cultural history
and literary influence. This approach requires imaginative openness to
different ways of understanding human nature and experience. Dogmatisms of
belief and dogmatisms of unbelief are equally a hindrance to such imaginative
exploration. Since to understand is not necessarily to agree or endorse, one's
integrity is not threatened or compromised by such exploration. I would not
urge you to be relativists, but I would urge you to become widely knowledgeable
about the diversity of faith comprehended in the materials we will study.

Students in this course are
often curious about what, if any, are my religious backgrounds and commitments.
To save you speculation, I will briefly summarize where I am on these matters,
though I hope that such knowledge will not (beyond the amenities of common
courtesy, perhaps) at all influence your expression of your own views in the
course. Briefly then, I am a confessing and, I hope in some measure, a
practicing Christian. My family background includes Episcopalians, Lutherans,
Presbyterians, Roman Catholics, Baptists, agnostics, one atheist, one person
raised in the Church of the Brethren, and one Buddhist. I am currently most
active in a church that adheres to an Anglican-Episcopalian tradition, though I
feel much ambivalence about that tradition. I believe that New Testament
nonviolence is a fundamental article of Christian faith. I do not believe,
however, that doctrinal statements-words about God-are an ultimate object of
religious faith, obedience, or love. The object of these is not a verbal
construct but a living presence. But the verbal constructs are extremely
important in understanding the cultural significance of religions, and these
constructs comprise the major focus of this course.

Paper Topics

You will write three papers in this course, each one 4-5 pages. Each paper
must develop a version of a different type of paper, drawn from the five types
listed below.

·Biblical retelling. Adopt the persona of
a figure in a Bible narrative and retell the story from the point of view of
that figure. If you wish, you may write your retelling as a letter or series of
letters, diary entries, a dialogue, or other such device. Example: retell the
Samson story from Dalila's point of view.

·Literary
analysis. Apply some variety of literary analysis (e.g., character
study, structural analysis) to one of the O'Connor stories in our anthology not
read for class (or other literary work chosen in consultation with me).

·Analysis
of music or visual art in comparison with scriptural / doctrinal sources or
models. In consultation with me, select a piece of serious music or
visual art that in some way employs or addresses Biblical subjects or doctrinal
questions and discuss how the piece does so. Usually, the most rewarding music
or art for this kind of paper does not directly adopt and endorse its
scriptural / doctrinal references.

·Mini-research
paper. In consultation with me, write a short research paper on an
appropriately focused and narrowed topic that allows you to explore some
subject dealing with doctrine or the Bible as literature

·. Sustained theological reflection. A
formal paper, not a series of journal entries, though keeping a journal would
be a good way to begin developing thoughts for such a paper. Your own treatment
of a theological question. You would need to develop a basic sense of the
question by undertaking, in consultation with me, some research into other
treatments of it.

Paper Deadlines

You will set your own paper
deadlines within the guidelines listed below. By the end of the second week of
classes, you will inform me in writing what your self-set deadlines are.
Guidelines: At least one paper will be submitted in term one (before Fall
break) and one in term two (after Fall break) and before the final week of
classes.. The remaining paper may be submitted in either term, before the final
week of classes.

Short Weekly
Writing Assignments

DESCRIPTION OF ASSIGNMENT.
For all but three of the sixteen weeks that make up our semester, you have a
weekly assignment involving short readings and a short, informal essay
responding to those readings. Below is the schedule of the assigned readings
and the date when the paper is due. These assignments are in addition to the
assignments listed in the Syllabus of Daily Assignments. The readings involve
short passages from various parts of the Bible. For these assignments, I prefer
that you read a modern translation, or a modern translation in conjunction with
the KJV. (Note that this instruction is different from what I require for the
daily assignments, for which unless otherwise noted, you are to read the KJV.)
The short papers (about two-pages typed, which amounts to 500 words or so) are
to respond to the readings in some way. As long as the paper is recognizably a
response to the particular readings for the week, you can write what you want.
These short papers are not necessarily supposed to be literary analyses, for
example. You don't even necessarily need to develop completely only one idea,
or to give the ideas you discuss the kind of thorough and connected development
that you would in a formal paper. I do expect complete sentences and correct
grammar. These are not to be free-writings or fragmentary journal entries.

PURPOSES OF THE ASSIGNMENT.
There are three main purposes for this assignment.First, the assignment is meant to give you a somewhat wider
exposure to the diversity and variety of the Bible than you can acquire through
the more systematic reading that we do for the daily assignments. We have so
little time and must be so selective regarding what we can focus on
systematically for class that you will have too narrow a sense of the Bible
without wider reading. I have selected the short passages mainly to provide
something of that wider exposure. The disadvantage, of course, is that you will
be reading the passages out of context, and context makes huge differences in
how one perceives a piece of writing. But perhaps the context we get from the
daily assignments will somewhat offset this disadvantage. Second, the
assignment is meant to give you some opportunity to focus a bit on what you
specifically want to look at, rather than on what the flow of class discussion
leads to or on what the expressed overall purposes of the course lead us to
concentrate on. Third, the assignment is meant to give you practice in writing.
Though the essays are informal and you have much choice regarding their content
and structure, I do require them to be grammatically correct.

GRADING. You will receive one
composite grade for these weekly short writing assignments. This composite
grade will be determined as follows. You will receive a grade of "Satisfactory"
for each short writing that you submit that is on time, grammatically correct,
and recognizably a response to the reading assigned. There are a total of
thirteen such papers assigned. If you receive a "Satisfactory" for
all thirteen papers, you will receive a 99 as your composite grade. If you
receive twelve "Satisfactory" grades, your composite grade will be
85; if eleven, 80; if ten, 75; if nine, 70; if eight, 65; if seven 64; if six,
63; if five, 62; if four, 60; if three or less, 59. I might or might not
comment on these essays, but comments other than those that address grammar or
whether or not your writing recognizably responds to the readings will not be
correlated with the grade on the essay -- they will just be sharing responses.

SCHEDULE OF SHORT WRITING ASSIGNMENTS

WEEK ONE

Paper due on Monday, Sept. 3.

Readings: Isaiah 58; 3-12.
Micah 6: 6-8.

WEEK TWO

Paper due on Monday, Sept. 10.

Readings: Isaiah 9: 2-7.Zechariah 9: 9-12.Deuteronomy 30: 11-14.

WEEK THREE

Paper due on Monday, Sept. 17.

Readings: 1 Corinthians 13:
1-13. 1 Corinthians 15: 35-58.

WEEK FOUR .

Paper due on Monday, Sept. 24.

Readings: Ecclesiastes 3:
1-22. Romans 12: 9-21.

WEEK FIVE .

Paper due on Monday, Oct. 1.

Readings: Ephesians 6: 10-17.
Romans 8: 18-39.

WEEK SIX

Paper due on Monday, Oct. 8.

Readings: Matthew 5: 1-48.

WEEK SEVEN

Paper due on Monday, Oct. 15.

Readings: Matthew 6: 1-34.
Matthew 7: 1-12. Matthew 20: 17-34.

WEEK EIGHT

No short writing assigned this week.

WEEK NINE

. Paper due on Monday, Nov. 5.

Readings: Matthew 26: 36-54.
Mark 10: 17-31.

. WEEK TEN

Paper due on Monday, Nov. 12.

Readings: First Letter of
John 3:11-4.21.

WEEK ELEVEN

No short writing assigned this week.

WEEK TWELVE

Paper due by Monday, Nov. 26.

Readings:Colossians 3:12-17.

WEEK THIRTEEN

Paper due on Monday, Dec. 3.

Readings:Leviticus 25: 1-55.

WEEK FOURTEEN

Paper due on Monday, Dec. 10.

Readings:Revelation 21: 1-5.Revelation 22: 1-5.

WEEK FIFTEEN

Paper due on Monday, Dec. 17.

Readings: Philippians 4:4-8.

WEEK SIXTEEN

No short writing assigned this week.

ENGLISH 130, Scriptural and Doctrinal Backgrounds.
Fall, 2001.

Syllabus of Daily Assignments

WEEK ONE

Aug. 27 M. Introduction to the course

29 W. Epistle of St. James (read in both KJV and a modern
translation).

10 W. Esther (all, plus
"apocryphal" additions at
http://www.hti.umich.edu/bin/rsv-idx?type=DIV1&byte=3888691); Judith
(all--you can access a copy of this "apocryphal" book at
http://www.hti.umich.edu/bin/rsv-idx?type=DIV1&byte=3825845.)